Lavinia Malfoy: A Story of War, Power and Love
by ReginaEridanus
Summary: MARY SUE PARODY. Lavinia Malfoy is Lucia Malfoy's embarrasing teenage mistake. Her uncle Lucius prefers that she is not associated with the surname. She made a name for herself, but then Lord Voldemort gave her a mission... COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Nothing you can recognise is mine. I'm just having a bit of fun.

This story was written for Pottersues' Seventh Annual Fanfiction Contest, and it was awarded second place. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Your words did encouraged me to write and work hard in the story. Even though the speshulness and the Mary Sues were deliberate, I did put a lot of honest effort into writing something midly entertaining, so if you enjoyed it and told me about it, you made me happy.

* * *

I looked into the mirror and a beautiful fifteen year old returned my gaze. I was sporting the face of my alter ego, the face my mother made me wear to my job everyday. I concentrated, and my pretty chocolate brown locks turned into straight, white-blonde hair while my bright green eyes became cold, sparkling grey. I had been too tired to morph back to my natural looks the night before. The last performance had ended unexpectedly late, and I hadn't had the energy to return to the looks that betrayed me as a Malfoy.

"Lavinia!" I heard my mother's call from downstairs. I checked my watch. The Sun and Saturn were aligned in the tenth house; I was obviously late for breakfast.

Before I rushed to meet my mother and my grandmother, I opened my bedroom window and let the cool summer breeze in. Our ample house on the Lake District was generally very cool, but my bedroom faced east, and the weak Sun would heat the glass in the windows and make the temperature of my room raise unless I opened them.

I went down the stairs as fast as I could, jumping every second step. My grandmother was a very severe woman, and she disliked it when I was late for meals.

"Good morning," I said as I entered the breakfast room and took my place at the table.

"You arrived quite late last night," my grandmother said with a scowl. She was a witch in her sixties and she was still very beautiful. She had short blonde hair up in a strict, elegant bun, and brown eyes that could be warm or cold according to whom she was speaking. She, my mother and I shared the same build, we all had thin, yet slightly curvy bodies. She also had all sorts of charms and potions that helped her to age gracefully. It was almost a pity that she had retired herself from society forever when my grandfather Abraxas died. She had stopped going out to great social functions when my uncle Abraxas Junior died during the last war, and moved away from Malfoy Manor to help my mother raise me here in the Lake District cottage when I was born. But save close family and friends, she rarely stepped out of the house anymore, and not many people ever came here (except her card games friends, of course).

"We are working very hard," I said, trying to appease her anger. "I am lead, after all."

"Are you tired, love?" my mother asked sympathetically. "We should have let you sleep late "

"Nonsense, Lucia," my grandmother said. "The girl should learn to come home at a decent hour. I hope you were disguised from beginning to end; if someone notices a Malfoy working in that harlot house "

"The WADA is one of the best wizarding drama schools in existence" I said coldly. "And I am the lead actress of 'Magically Blonde: The Musical'. I am not a harlot."

I felt my eyes water in anger and frustration as my grandmother prepared to retaliate, but fortunately we were interrupted by the familiar 'pop!' of our house-elf.

"Message from Miss Narcissa," said Milly with her high-pitched voice, handing my grandmother a yellow parchment in a silver plate.

I sipped my Earl Grey slowly, trying to breathe and calm down. My mother smiled apologetically to me as my grandmother read in silence the letter from my aunt. Like my grandmother, she was also very beautiful. In her case, youth hadn't entirely left. She was only in her early thirties. She combed her white blonde, long and straight hair every morning and every night and she loved using all sorts of cosmetics that stressed her beautiful features without making her look as if she had too much on. It was really sad that she left home even less than grandmother.

I finished my tea feeling a bit down. If it wasn't for me, everyone around this table might have led a happier life.

"Narcissa is coming for tea," my grandmother announced when she finished the letter. "I'll have to cancel tonight's card game. She says it's urgent."

She rushed to her desk, in a hurry to send owls to her friends. I directed an angry look to my mother.

"You haven't told her, have you?" I accused. "She doesn't know who paid for her last fur coat, does she? And she doesn't know who's paying for her imported luxury fruits and her hair charms?"

"I cannot tell her, love," my mother said sadly.

"You cannot tell her that it comes from my wages? That it comes from that 'harlot house'?"

"She has enough things on her mind, with Lucius in Azkaban," she said more firmly. "And she's worried about you. With the Dark Lord back in power if he finds out about your condition and about our secrets "

"I hate all those secrets!" I said angrily, run upstairs and locked myself inside my bedroom.

I knew everyone in my family hated that I was an actress. My uncle Lucius had forbidden me to use the family name, so for the stage I was Lavinia Smith. My whole existence was a bit of a secret, after all, so becoming a public figure hadn't been a very bright choice.

I had hardly ever been out of the Lake District cottage. I was home-schooled in magic since I was a small child, due to my condition. I was sheltered my entire life. Only a privileged few knew of my existence, paid by my uncle to keep me away from the public eye. So of course my uncle was furious when the Daily Prophet published my photograph with the caption "WADA's new emerging young talent". I was under my disguise, but still recognizable for those who knew me.

I had spent the last two years studying and working at WADA. They only take people from fifteen onwards, but, as a metamorphmagus, I auditioned looking older, and I displayed such a natural talent that they decided to make an exception when I told them I was actually too young. After all, it's very convenient to have a metamorphmagus in any theatre company. It didn't take me long to become an accomplished actress, singer and dancer. Serena, the lead character in 'Magically Blonde: the Musical' was the most important part I had ever played. My life hadn't been easy, and it was only now that I was starting to enjoy it.

* * *

Aunt Narcissa arrived late and looking the worse for wear. I hadn't seen her since Uncle Lucius had been sent to Azkaban, and the change in her looks was remarkable.

We had tea almost completely in silence, only asking a few polite questions about her and Draco's health. It was only when Milly took the tea things away that my aunt started talking.

"I come here on an errand from the Dark Lord," she whispered to me, my grandmother and my mother. The room suddenly got colder. "He has given Draco a mission, and he wants Lavinia to assist him."

The three of us exchanged a look of pure terror.

"But I don't want to do that," I said weakly.

"I am afraid it is not optional," Aunt Narcissa said, as if she was confessing a fatal illness. "He wants you inside Hogwarts by the first of September."

"Oh, no " I cried, covering my face with my hands and allowing a few tears to escape.

"Does he know?" My mother chocked her own tears. "About her condition?"

"No, as far as I know," Aunt Narcissa said. "I didn't tell him, and I don't think Lucius would have. I'm sorry, Lucia."

I embraced my mother and allowed her to comfort me. This was my way of consoling her.

"How are we supposed to get her into Hogwarts?" My grandmother said. "She's always been home-schooled; Dumbledore won't allow her to start in fifth year "

"We'll find a way, Alcmene," Narcissa said. "Maybe Lucia can convince him that the school is safer for Lavinia than this house. As a last resource, the Blacks have always had a seat in the Board of Governors "

"So did us, if my idiotic brother hadn't lost it " My mother mumbled.

"They can't deny us entrance. We'll get her in, or it'll be the last thing we do."

For the second time in the day, I ran up to my bedroom and locked myself in. I landed on my bed, and let the tears soak my pillow.

Hours later, I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. I was, quite possibly, the unluckiest girl in the world. I had grown up locked inside the house because I was my mother's embarrassing teenage mistake. I had been forbidden to go to school because I was born with this dangerous condition, the reason why the dragon blood hadn't worked when my mother drank it before her first trimester was over and the reason why I hadn't been given away after my birth. The reason why I had never been told who my father was- I was the bastard child who worked at the harlot house, and I would never be anyone else.

* * *

It was only after Lavinia had locked herself in her room that Narcissa dared to enquire the truth from her sister and mother-in-law.

"Have you told her yet?" she whispered. The candle-light reflected in her hair made it look orange, as if she was on fire.

"About her father?" Lucia said. "No. I don't want her to know."

"And about the prophecy?"

"Either," Alcmene said. Her commanding voice sounded definite. "She shouldn't know until after it's happened. Otherwise, she'll resist it."

"Don't you think she might find out about it from other sources?"

"I'll have to tell Dumbledore to keep his mouth shut, then," Lucia said firmly.

"It's a good thing the Dark Lord hasn't heard about this prophecy," Narcissa sighed. "I don't know what he would do if he did "

"What about your sister?" Alcmene asked harshly. "What does she know?"

"She ignores enough." Narcissa reassured them. "If I let her know anything else, she might come and kill you all herself. Lavinia going away to Hogwarts will keep her out of harm's way, until the time is right. The two of you should go and visit Aricia in Canada."

"We might. I haven't seen her since Abraxas passed away, and that was only a few hours," Alcmene said, looking her age as the few wrinkles in her face became apparent as a shadow lingered on them.

"I wish we could take Lavinia with us," Lucia whispered. A single tear rolled down her left cheek. "Then she'd really be out of harm's way."

"But then she wouldn't accomplish her destiny. And that's the most important thing of all." The two sisters-in-law looked at each other and smiled weakly, feeling the pain of letting their children go.

"Then so be it," Alcmene dictated.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, Hogwarts or the wizarding world. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction!

* * *

I had never been inside any castle, and certainly not inside Hogwarts. The splendor of the school dazzled me and casted a shadow over my comparatively austere life.

My mother accompanied me to the Headmaster's Tower, a childish gleam in her eyes as she was reminded of the adolescence so rudely interrupted by her unexpected pregnancy. She told me stories of people she often named but whom I'd never met, and of people she rarely mentioned and whose mere memory brought tears to her eyes.

I walked the ancient hallways amazed at how familiar this place seemed to be and at how alien it really was. Suddenly, I felt as nervous as if it was opening night. How was I supposed to find my way to a single classroom or to my dormitories in such an enormous, labyrinthine place?

"The same way you find your way around a theatre's behind the scenes underground passages. You'll be fine, you'll see." My mother smiled.

I had heard a lot of talk about Dumbledore. My family often spoke of him in disdain, but there was always a certain awe of his persona. He was an old man, but he irradiated power and magic. He saluted us in a perfectly cordial, polite way but there was something that betrayed his mistrust towards us.

My mother spoke to him first in humbled tones, then a bit seductive and finally, demanding. The Headmaster and my mother argued about politics, my condition, my work, the war, my uncle and everyone's intentions. At a certain moment, my mother sent me to the hallway. When I returned to the office I was officially a Hogwarts student. My mother had her coat on and was preparing to leave.

"Don't you want to know in which House your daughter will be in, Lucia?" Dumbledore said, holding the famous Sorting Hat, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh, yes," she said, excited. "You will have your own room, love, of course, because of your condition " she told me.

" Yet you need to know with whom you'll be sitting during meals and taking your classes," Dumbledore said as I sat on a chair and the Hat was placed on my head.

"Interesting," said a voice next to my ear just as the world turned black. "So much hidden power and so many secrets."

"Just say Slytherin, please. We all know that's where any Malfoy is going to end up."

"I am not so sure," the Hat said. "You are different from your family, Lavinia Malfoy. You are different from everyone else, in fact.

"I know," I sighed internally. "But everyone will be disappointed in me unless I am sorted into Slytherin. Well maybe it won't make that much of a difference," I added cynically.

"I still think you don't quite fit into any of the Houses. You are ambitious, brave, hard-working and incredibly smart."

"What's going to happen, then? Do we draw straws? Take the name out of a hat, a normal hat?"

The Hat chuckled.

"You shall be in none of the Houses and all at the same time," it announced loudly, and it was quickly removed from my head. Dumbledore was rolling his eyes and sighing.

"Not again " he mumbled.

"You mean this happens often?" my mother said, the surprise in her face probably as noticeable as in mine.

"Every now and then" Dumbledore replied. "You will answer to professor McGonagall as your Head of House, though you are welcome to go to any of the other Heads for things other than administrative duties. You will arrange with her with whom you'll be taking each class, and during meals you can sit wherever you like. You will have a space in your dormitories to receive friends if you like. Any questions?"

"No," I said shyly.

"Your grandmother and I will Apparate to Canada tonight," my mother told me as she embraced me. "So I'll leave you here now."

We said goodbye among tears- this was the first time I was to be apart from my mother. While I relished the idea of independence from her and my grandmother, I couldn't pretend that I wouldn't miss her. Her last gift was a two-way mirror, so that I would be able to speak to her when I so choose while she was in Canada.

Once she left, Dumbledore entered his office again.

"Some house elves are preparing your rooms," he said, "and I left a message for Professor McGonagall. She will come to talk to you soon, I expect. Meanwhile, we have a few minutes for ourselves."

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, remembering Draco's mission suddenly. I liked Dumbledore, I decided. But he had been a fool to take me in.

"You must think me a fool for taking you in," he said, to my great surprise. "I am very much aware of who you are more so than Lord Voldemort."

His eyes scanned me carefully. I didn't answer.

"No shudders?" he asked. I smiled.

"I am an actress, sir. I know the power of words."

"Of course," he smiled. "You are such a special girl, Lavinia. I know all about your powers and about "

"My condition," I said quickly, before he could name it.

"Yes. You must have had a difficult childhood, trying to learn to live despite it."

"Yes, sir," I said, blushing. Life had been so awful back then. But after that, I went into the theatre and it was all so wonderful for a while

"If Voldemort finds out about it, he'd force your destruction," he said carefully.

"That's why he mustn't know," I whispered, and I felt the fear eating me inside.

"There's another choice," he said. "You could help me bring him down."

For a while, there was silence. I looked around. The portraits were all looking at me expectantly. The phoenix on the perch sang three short notes. It sounded like the beginning of 'Who I am', the first song in 'Magically Blonde'.

"What will I have to do?" I asked, determined yet terrified.

"Help me train Harry Potter," he answered. "He'll be the one to face him. Meanwhile, I promise your whole family will be safe."

"All right," I said, weakly, feeling that this was the most significant choice I had ever made. "I'll do it."

"Then, let me welcome you to the Order of the Phoenix."

* * *

I spent a comfortable week in the company of the teachers, with whom I spoke to refer them about my various powers and condition, but mostly my abilities. They all said I would still be able to learn something, and I looked forward to the start of classes.

On the first of September, I came down from my dormitories once I saw the firsts students come into the castle. I figured I would be able to blend in with the incoming crowd and sit next to Draco. Surely, my cousin would be nice enough to introduce me to my Slytherin year mates.

I had decided to go down looking like myself, but it wasn't the wisest choice. Many recognized me from the stage, where I too was blonde. I had signed five autographs by the time I sat at the Slytherin table. The younger girls were especially in awe of me, so I sat next to some older kids.

They stared at me. I smiled.

"You are Lavinia Malfoy, aren't you?" one of the girls said. I recognized her as Pansy Parkinson. I had met her once the summer before last, when I had visited my uncle Lucius and was ushered to his study quickly when they realized Draco had guests.

"Yes, I am. You are Pansy, right?" Pansy smiled, not bothering to look sincere.

"I thought she was Lavinia Smith," a blonde girl said, baffled.

"The one and the same, Tracy," Pansy sneered.

"That's my stage name," I explained Tracy. "But my real name is Malfoy. I'm Draco's cousin."

"But he never said!" Tracy exclaimed, excited.

"Of course he didn't," Pansy said sharply.

"You are Lucia Malfoy's daughter, aren't you?" a short, dark haired boy said, and the mood around the table changed.

Not many people know about me, but most purebloods knew that my mother had had a child during her teens.

"That wasn't very polite, Theo," a red-haired girl said.

"You are not my mother, Daphne," he answered.

"Has any of you seen Draco?" I asked, my patience almost gone.

"He said he had something to do," Pansy said in an all-knowing tone.

"Thanks," I mumbled, and got up. I saw a gap in the Gryffindor table and, causing quite the stir and only after signing a few more autographs, I landed there.

"Sorry, I'm saving that sit for someone else," a bushy-haired brunette said. I moved a bit to the left, and made a gap next to me.

"Is that enough?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Thanks."

A group of twelve year olds came to me with bits of parchment and quills, but I still could hear her conversation with the red-haired boy sitting on the other side of the gap I had just made.

"We should have waited for him, Ron," she was saying.

"I'm sure he'll turn up, Hermione," Ron answered. "I bet he's with Hagrid, or something."

"Tonks said she would find him and bring him," a red-haired girl sitting right in front of me said. "I'm sure she will."

"He can't have gotten into trouble already," Ron said. "It's only September."

One of the girls engaged me in conversation, and I couldn't eavesdrop anymore. I had recognized them- The Prophet had told as much as it could about the six teenagers who had battled inside the Department of Mysteries last June. They were Hermione Granger and Ron and Ginny Weasley. I couldn't help but take a particular interest on them- they were, after all, the people who knew Harry Potter the most.

"Sorry, what's your name?" Hermione asked an hour later, after Harry had come back and Dumbledore had finished his speech. Professor McGonagall had ordered all the girls to let me eat in peace.

"My stage name is Lavinia Smith," I said, trying not to scare them with my true identity.

"Stage name?" Harry asked. That was the very first time he looked at me. My heart raced.

No wonder I was nervous. This was the kid I had to train for the slaughter.

Those green eyes, though

"I thought you looked familiar!" Ron exclaimed. "You were on the Daily Prophet, weren't you? Seamus has your picture pinned to his bed curtains."

I felt my cheeks go red, but my metamorph powers kicked in on their own and hid the treacherous color. Harry, Hermione and Ginny silenced him with a look.

"You work in the theatre, don't you?" Hermione asked politely.

"Yeah," I said. "I was home schooled, but I wanted to prepare and sit my exams at Hogwarts. I'll still do functions on weekends, though."

They quickly lost interest in me, and went back to whispering among themselves. But it was fine. Soon enough, I'd have to spend too much time with Harry Potter.

* * *

The first week of classes was over incredibly fast.

The teachers were right. I was learning. I soon climbed up to the top of my year, which wasn't really a surprise. The rest of the school was still in awe of me, and more so after the first Transfiguration class, when Professor McGonagall made me demonstrate my power to turn into a white dove. The fact that I was both animagus and metamorphmagus intrigued most, but I knew they were simple outlets I had had to learn to control properly because of my condition. But that was still my secret.

Nobody was able to figure out where my private sleeping quarters were, so I had all the privacy I wanted. I spent most of my free time inside the library, one of the few public places where I could meet other students. I befriended Hermione Granger there. I continued to sit with the trio during meals, though sometimes my fans dragged me to their tables.

On Friday night, I spoke to Draco for the first time since summer holidays. He found me going back to my dormitories after dinner. I had been hoping for an early night.

"I noticed you are not using your real name much, cousin," he said, surprising me.

"I don't think there's much of a point," I said, uncomfortable. "Everyone knows me by my stage name."

"Have you told your new friends?" he sneered.

"Not yet," I admitted. "All in good time."

"Don't forget you are here to help me, Lavinia," he said, serious all of a sudden.

"I haven't."

"You are not here to make friends," he reminded me harshly. "You are here because the Dark Lord asked you to."

There was a noise behind him, as if someone invisible had crashed against an armor. Draco cursed.

"Potter again," he sighed. "Potter under his invisibility cloak."

He had his wand in his hand, but I was quicker. With a simple movement of my hand, a great 'thud!' was heard, and with another, Harry's body reappeared on the floor. Draco stared at me, impressed.

"It was true, then," he whispered. "What my parents said."

"Why would they lie?" I asked, annoyed, and trying to see if Harry was hurt.

"Stimulus to improve my grades?" he shrugged. "What do we do with him? Do you think he heard?"

"Of course he heard," I looked at my cousin. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. "He won't remember anything."

And with another gentle movement of my hands, I erased Harry's memory of the conversation he had just heard. In a few minutes, he would wake up thinking he had simply slipped and fallen on the floor.

Draco's face was solemn, his respect for my abilities renewed.

"I will help you, Draco," I assured him. "You will see."


	3. Chapter 3

I'm very sorry for taking so long! Exams get in the way of everything good. Please, do review and tell me what you think. If I don't know what you like and what you don't, I can't make the story any better!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Sirius Black and the Weasley twins I would definitely not have time to write fanfiction!

* * *

I woke up on Saturday morning when the first few rays of sunshine lightened my room. I had left the purple velvet curtains of my four poster cherry wooden bed opened with the very purpose of being up as soon as the Sun was. I looked at my watch; the Sun was in the first house and Venus on the sixth. It was time.

I pushed the Egyptian cotton sheets and let the velvet curtains caress my arms as I got out of my massive bed. The house elves who prepared my room really went all out looking for disused furniture. They were beautiful. Apart from my bed, I had a big vanity with a great, antique mirror (she had quite an outspoken personality and absolutely adored my metamorphmagus abilities), a magical wardrobe with just enough space for all my clothes and an ample desk with secreter. There was a window that overlooked the beautiful, eternally white mountains and the walls were covered with pale pink fabric. There was also a portrait of Calliope Malfoy, a famous witch of the sixteenth century and a direct ancestor of mine. She was still asleep.

I did my meditation exercises and then took a nice immersion bubble bath in the luxurious bathroom that came with the room. Then I sat in front of my vanity to acquire the looks of Lavinia Smith.

"Can we please do something I like today?" the mirror asked.

"I am not going to go around with a two hundred year old hairstyle, Phaedra" I told it. My reflection wrinkled my nose.

"I told you I don't like that name" it said.

"I don't care" I smiled, as my hair went darker and my locks started forming from the bottom, falling across my back like a cascade.

I put on an emerald green robe, grabbed my backpack and went out to the little living room. A small tray with coffee and cream, toasts, orange juice and eggs with bacon was waiting on the coffee table. I sat on one of the armchairs to enjoy my breakfast. My school things were all over the place but in perfect order, my books rested on the shelves attached to the walls. There was also a small fireplace. Once I finished eating, I lighted it with a snap of my fingers, grabbed some Floo powder and yelled:

"Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts!"

* * *

The WADA's theatre was ancient and enormous. It had capacity for a thousand people, and boxes that belonged to the most renowned pureblood families. Behind the stage there were big rooms for rehearsals, dancing practice, choir and orchestra, and more than a hundred dressing rooms. I went straight to mine, and I felt at home.

In order to perform that night, I had to warm up my voice and my muscles, going over all my choreography at least once. A whole week without performing at all felt like forever.

My company mates welcomed me back warmly and assuring me they had missed me. Rosalind Hainsworth, who replaced me as Serena during the week, was particularly enthusiastic, but there was only one person I was truthfully eager to see.

"Vinny!" I heard, as a tall, red cloud embraced me.

"Scarlett!" I yelled, and hugged her back. Scarlett Jones was a twenty two year old feisty redhead and the closest thing to a sister I had. "I've missed you so much!"

"Of course you have! Who could possibly replace me?" she said dramatically, letting me go but still holding my hands. "You are staying in my flat tonight, I won't accept no for an answer."

"Oh, all right" I pretended to accept against my will. I had a matinee show on Sunday.

"C'mon, let's grab some lunch before going down for Costume and Hair & Make-up" she said. "I've got a thousand things to tell you."

* * *

That night's performance was a success as usual, and Scarlett and I run away from the WADA to her London flat as fast as we could. I was still wearing Serena's complicated wedding hairdo when we arrived.

"Help me with this" I asked as soon as I put down my backpack near the entrance door. I loved Scarlett's flat. It was in a tenth floor, so we could see great part of the city lights through the windows. It had a nice, comfortable common area, with two settees and a round dinning table, a small kitchen and a big bedroom with an en suite vintage bathroom. Her flat had always represented the freedom I didn't have at home.

"Did you see Rosalind's face when Theseus told you how glad he was to see the real Serena back?" Scarlett laughed, while her wand freed my hair. Theseus Lessing was our director.

"It was epic" I agreed. "Completely worth missing on a week."

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

"No" I sighed. "But almost."

Scarlett looked at me for some time. No words were needed between us; with that look we had both communicated a thousand feelings to each other.

"I'll make tea" she said, after a while. "You sit there and turn the telly on."

Scarlett was a very proud muggleborn who refused to leave her parent's world behind. She was a great fan of all things muggle, and specially technology. The sole purpose of having a flat in muggle London was so she could have a working telly.

"I've got a new anime I want you to see" she said from the kitchen. "I'm sure you'll love it."

"All right" I said, used to Scarlett's muggle and Japanese extravaganza. "No one said anything about what'll happen next season. What are you preparing?"

"We'll have Morgana and Circe" she said, handing me a mug.

"You are joking. All female leads, right when I'm gone?" Scarlett smiled apologetically. "Which Circe? Real classic or French wannabe classic?"

"Real classic, and Elizabethan Morgana, not that silly modern adaptation those off-WADA idiots tried to put on last year" she answered. "I just don't get it, Vinny. Why going to school now? This is your best moment, you are right on the spot light, and "

"I know!" I said, unable to contain myself. "It's not like it was my choice "

"I knew it!" she exclaimed in triumph. "Whose then? Your grandmother?"

Scarlett had met my grandmother once. It was a disaster. They now hated each other with passion.

"Sort of, yeah" I lied. "My aunt was involved, too. They thought I would be safer inside the school."

"What would You-Know-Who want with a fifteen-year-old actress? Oh" she suddenly realized "is it your condition?"

Scarlett was the only person I had ever told about it.

"We think he doesn't know, but we are not sure."

"Well, I'm sure this stupid war will be over soon, and you'll be back with us" she said, hugging me. "Now, are you up for some Paradise Kiss?"

"Definitely" I said, and she put it on. "Oh, it looks beautiful" I said, as soon as the first few images appeared on the screen.

"It's all about a group of fashion students. Prepare to see some stunning dresses."

"Oh, she's so cute "

"That's Miwako, and she is kawaii!"

"He looks handsome."

"Of course he does, he's the male lead. And talking about handsome men " she said in a mischievous tone " have you met any at school?"

"No" I lied too quickly, and Scarlett laughed.

"You can't lie to me, love!" she exclaimed. "Who is it, then?"

"No one."

"Don't be like that! You are supposed to tell me, you know, I'm your adopted sister."

"Fine" I sighed. "It's Harry Potter."

"You are kidding me."

"I'm not."

"Harry Potter? Really?"

"Yes, he's nice!" I said. "Nothing like the papers made him out to be. I've been sitting with him and his friends during meals, and they are nice. Hermione is very friendly; she's given me a few tips about the teachers "

"You, my lovely Lavinia, are bonkers" she declared.

"I'm not!"

"Going to school at the worst possible time in your career, falling for Harry the Chosen One Potter "

"I never said I fell for him!"

"You-are-bonkers" she repeated. "Now keep watching, this part's my favourite."

* * *

I went back to Hogwarts on Sunday night, exhausted but energized and plain happy. The matinee performance had been as great as ever, and I was ready to go to bed in order to face the early morning Monday classes.

Albus Dumbledore had other plans.

I was summoned to his Tower, and not surprised to see Harry there.

"Miss Smith, how was your weekend?" the Headmaster asked politely.

"It was amazing, sir. Thank you for allowing me to continue working."

"My pleasure" he said. "I have told Mr. Potter here, that I wished for you to train him. There is a wonderful space you will feel comfortable in, I hope. It is known as the Room of Requirement, one of the many, but maybe the greatest, wonders of Hogwarts Castle. Harry will take you there, and show you how to access it. You may go."

"Thanks, sir" Harry said, smiling at me and indicating to follow.

"Thank you, sir. Good night."

We went all the way to the seventh floor in silence, until we reached a painting of Barnabas the Barmy.

"The Room of Requirement is exactly that" Harry explained. "It takes shape according to your wishes. To access it, you need to walk past it three times concentrating on exactly what you want, and a door will appear, unless it's occupied."

"I was wondering why we were pacing in front of ballet trolls" I said. Harry laughed.

"You have in mind what we'll need?" he asked.

"Yeah" I said, and a door appeared in the wall opposite the painting. We entered.

Behind it, there was a great bare room, with a high ceiling and stone floor and walls.

"You don't seem to have much imagination" Harry observed.

"This is exactly what we need" I assured him. I walked further in until I was in the centre of the room.

"Magic is about manipulating matter" I explained. "From making water out of air " I manipulated the air between my hands and it turned into a bubble full of water floating in the air, suspended by my fingers. " creating fire" the bubble turned into a small blue ball of fire "or turning light " the fire disappeared, and I raised my hands to the sides, my palms slowly going down " into darkness."

Every light around us was extinguished, and inside my pitch-black spell I felt myself faint, all energy drained from my body.

I lost consciousness.

I woke up to the faint light of a wand, and Harry's preoccupied green eyes. I tried to sit up, and needed his help to raise my back from the floor.

"Are you all right?" he asked, obviously scared.

"Yes, yes, I am, I'm sorry" I apologized. "It happens when I use too much magic or when I'm too tired."

"Really? But are you OK?"

"Yes, really" I assured him. "It's nothing serious, it's my fault, I should know better by now."

I saw his features relax, and I felt better.

"Can you do something about the lights, then?"

"Oh, yes, sorry!" I said, and the light returned to the Room of Requirement.

"You really are going to teach me to do that?" he asked.

"Well, I was hoping to teach you to do things a bit more useful in combat. That was just a demonstration."

"Oh" he said. "How did you do it without a wand?"

"Every wizard can manage a small amount of wandless magic" I explained. "I am a bit different."

"Different how?" he asked, genuinely curious. I realized there wasn't a trace of prejudice in his eyes.

I had known I would have to tell him sooner or later. Lying now would only make it harder in the future.

"I have a condition, Harry" I said. "Well, it's called a condition now. It used to be known as a curse, a sickness, an anomaly. Not that long ago, children born with it were drowned at birth."

"How awful" he frowned.

"It's called magnomagia" I said. "It means I was born with far more magic than a regular wizard. It is very difficult to control it unless you are rigorously trained since infancy. That's why I never came to Hogwarts; it didn't meet my needs."

"It sounds difficult to live with."

"It is" I sighed. "But we can control it nowadays. It's not really that bad."

I smiled, and he returned it.

"I'm sorry, but I won't be able to do anything else tonight" I apologized. "I need to sleep."

"I understand" he said, raising to his feet, and extending a hand to help me up.

"I'll make it up to you another time. Not after a performance."

"It's fine" he said, as we exited the Room of Requirement.

"Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Lavinia."

We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then I turned and walked away quickly, back to my dormitories, blushing. None of us noticed Calliope Malfoy's blonde looks watching us from behind a ballet troll.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat comfortably on his favorite chair in his office, a lemon sherbet in his mouth; facing the portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses that so often shared their wisdom and experience with him, even when they weren't asked.

"I was wondering which course of action would be best," he said, as his eyes twinkled. Calliope Malfoy, comfortably leaning against the chair of a great-great nephew, was smiling full of joy.

"Well, he is definitely interested, from what I've just seen," she said. "It's my great-niece I worry about the most."

"I would have thought girls like that knew how to recognize an eligible bachelor and trap him," Phineas Nigellus Black sniffed.

"What do you mean, girls like that?" Calliope snapped, offended.

"Theatre girls, of course."

"You are horrible, Phineas" Antigone Halliday declared. "Actress or not, Lavinia is still a Malfoy and a lady."

"That is not the matter," Dumbledore interrupted, sighing. "The question is: what can we do to ensure that they get together?"

"Oh, give them time to know each other, Professor," Enona Crawford said. "They won't fall in love unless they spend time together."

"So you think I should allow them more than just one encounter every week?"

"That'd be a start," Calliope said. "I have a feeling Lavinia would like Harry to see her acting, surely you would allow an outing to the theatre?"

"We could arrange that. After all, Lavinia spends every weekend in London and misses all Hogsmeade visits."

"There's a good idea," Antigone Halliday said. "You could allow her a Hogsmeade Friday as long as she takes a companion."

"That is a great idea," Dumbledore said, smiling. "We are definitely on the right track."


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Dolores Umbridge, she would have been turned into a cow.

* * *

The following weeks were rather quiet. I had become comfortable in the castle and learned the way to all my classes. I was generally well liked among my year mates and teachers. I took Potions and DADA with the Slytherins; Snape liked me mostly because I was a Malfoy (he was the only teacher who failed to comply with my request to be addressed as Smith) and I sat in his class with a half-blood girl named Hannah Tyler I rather liked. I took Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, where Professor McGonagall loved me because of my abilities; Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Charms with the Ravenclaws. My electives, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, were taken with mixed groups.

At meals, I continued to sit with Harry, Ron and Hermione. We discussed the day's news every morning, our teachers and classes during lunch and everything else at supper. I generally spent the evenings in the library with Hermione- the methods currently teaching Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at Hogwarts weren't the same I had been taught with, so while Hermione showed me how to do our exercises, I showed her how to really use the letters and runes (she was delighted). The weather was rather rainy, but since my weekends were always occupied, I wouldn't have time for walks even if it was sunny. Homework took up most of my free time. Dumbledore even insisted on two weekly trainings with Harry; generally Monday and Thursday evenings, so every other day I could easily be found scribbling essays madly in the library.

Truth was, I wasn't exactly in love with academic life. I was learning a few things, yes, but hardly one little thing or two a day. I didn't really feel it justified all the hours I had to dedicate to attending classes and doing homework. Most of the time, I was irremediably bored. If it wasn't for Harry, Ron and Hermione's friendship, I would have been utterly miserable.

I missed the theatre life every second, especially Scarlett (to whom I wrote daily) but even Rosalind Hainsworth (who wrote to me about how could she improve her performance of Serena- not much chance, really). And, against all my expectations, I missed both my mother and my grandmother. I often spoke to them through the two-way mirror. My mother seemed to be happier than ever, away from pureblood society and able to attend all sorts of places without being stared at (that just proved it: without me, my mother was actually much happier). To my great surprise, I became my grandmother's confidante in regards to my aunt Aricia, who far from behaving like a respectable maiden lady apparently enjoyed the visits of several gentlemen and was out every night.

I ignored Draco most of the time. I tried to keep an eye on him- sometimes, I saw him sneaking out of the Room of Requirement- but he didn't approach me again. We hardly spoke to each other at all. I preferred the school to still know me as Lavinia Smith, even though all Slytherins gossiped about my mother and my mysterious father. I was working hard at training Harry after all; I really didn't have much time to plan the murder of Albus Dumbledore.

Something that alleviated the gloom was a surprise permission to visit Hogsmeade one October Friday evening. I was allowed to take one companion, and I was considering either Hermione or Hannah (and inviting Scarlett to come up from London so whoever I went with could meet her) but Dumbledore kept hinting that I should take Harry and pick up some books that would help with training. Thankfully, McGonagall intervened and said that Harry Potter and Lavinia Smith alone in Hogsmeade on a Friday evening would surely attract the attention of the press, so I was allowed to take all three of them- Harry, Ron and Hermione. I would have to be heavily disguised and an Auror also member of the Order of the Phoenix who was stationed in Hogsmeade would keep an eye on us from the shadows- after all, this was Harry Potter.

We had a wonderful time. We picked up the books Dumbledore asked us to and I made Hermione buy several plays. I had actually never visited Hogsmeade before, so they took me to all the usual places; Honeydukes, Zonko, the Shrieking Shack (at this point, the Auror chaperoning us became visible- I was startled by her likeness to Draco's aunt Bellatrix, but happily she just happened to be the daughter of their estranged sister) and, finally, the Three Broomsticks.

They assured me that the pub looked quite different now with no students and only the locals in. I enjoyed myself immensely- the butterbeer was delicious and we had a great dinner. And, because I was morphed to look a bit older, we got served whatever we asked. Harry and I sat in front of each other and we flirted the whole evening. I am pretty sure Hermione and Ron noticed it. Still, I felt quite relaxed and happy- and I think that even Harry forgot all about Voldemort and the war.

Sadly, my happiness did not last much. After we came back from Hogsmeade safely and I got separated from the trio on my way back to my dormitory, I saw that Draco was waiting for me right at my door.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. Draco looked at me surprised.

"Lavinia? Is that you?" he asked. I stared at him for a moment, until I realized I was still wearing a trendy, strawberry-haired bob and honey-colored eyes. I had even disguised my features until I was unrecognizable.

"Sorry. Yes, it's me," I said. "Quickly, come in before someone sees you."

We stepped into my living room. A lovely fire was warming the room already. He took a sit right on my favorite armchair.

"What do you think you are doing?" he hissed furiously, reminding me of his father quite a lot.

"Don't talk to me that way."

"I'll talk to you the way I bloody want, Lavinia," he said. "What the hell do you think you are doing, going around with Potter and his friends all over the castle and Hogsmeade?"

I stared at him, unable to come up with an answer.

"You are here to help me, Lavinia! I told you already, you are not here to make friends or get boyfriends! Do you even understand what is at risk here?"

"Of course I do "

"No you don't!" he screamed. "You weren't there the day the Dark Lord moved into my house and he described me what exactly would happen to my mother and father if I didn't succeed on this mission! You didn't spend a whole summer with Aunt Bellatrix she'd do anything the Dark Lord told her to, no matter to whom "

What seemed to have started like a screaming row had now ended with a quiet look of terror. The desperate expresion on Draco's face broke all my defenses and made me feel terrible for having ignored him the last few weeks.

I sat right in front of him and forced him to meet my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said. With a wave of my hand, two steaming cups of tea appeared on the short table. He took one and handed the other, in silence.

"I am acting," I lied. "I was covering my back. If people thought that I was friends with Harry Potter, they wouldn't be so quick to believe that I murdered Albus Dumbledore."

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm sorry," I insisted. "I have also been enjoying it. You are right. I should have been helping you."

We drank our tea in silence.

"I'm going to the Manor tomorrow," he said. "I got permission, with father in jail and all. Aunt Bellatrix will be away on a mission."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah," he got up, leaving his empty cup on the table. He said goodnight, and left.

* * *

During the weekend, I was told off several times for being distracted during rehearsals. I am a pro, so the performances were brilliant anyway. Scarlett pressed me for information, and sadly I lied and blamed my feelings for Harry.

Monday evening came, and with it Harry's training. I was still worried about Draco; I had caught glimpses of him at meals and was dying to ask him about his visit home. I hadn't yet thought about the implications of Aunt Narcissa alone with Bellatrix Lestrange and occasional visits from Voldemort, without even the excuse to visit my grandmother and mother to escape from them.

"You look distracted," I was told for the thousandth time, but this one by Harry.

"I am," I admitted. "Do you want to take a break?" He was sweating and short of breath.

"Yeah. Some water would be nice, too." I summoned two glasses filled with crystal clear liquid and a plate of sandwiches from the kitchens. "Cheers. So, what are you so worried about?"

I sat next to him, in silence, trying to figure out how much I could tell him. He looked embarrassed at my lack of answer.

"Oh, sorry, you don't have to "

"It's fine. It's just that it's complicated."

"It's all right."

"It's a family situation," I confessed.

"Oh. Is it the war?" he asked. Nowadays, every family situation was somehow linked to the war.

"They are in danger," I said. "Well, my aunt is. You could say Voldemort is holding her hostage. And I just can't figure out how to get her out of there."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "We'll get her out, I promise."

"You are so kind, Harry," I laughed. "Worst thing, is, she's a bitch to me half the time "

"Oh, I know" he laughed, too. "My aunt is a bitch to me all the time, but still I don't want to see her dead "

"Yeah. I heard you lived with muggle relatives "

"I do," he replied. "My aunt, who was my mom's sister, her husband and her son. They never liked me. They don't like magic at all."

"My family wasn't exactly thrilled when I came along, either," I explained. "My mother was half-way her seventh year when she had me. Great big embarrassment to the family name. Since then, she raised me in a holiday cottage we barely were allowed to leave."

"Well, my aunt and uncle made me sleep in the cupboard until I was eleven, and then they tried to keep me from coming to Hogwarts."

"That's awful!"

"They even kept the truth about my parents from me."

"My mother never told me who my father is," I told him. "My whole family knows except me."

"We are definitely screwed up, then" he said, and we both laughed.

"And now, I am training you to face down the scariest wizard that ever lived. It just keeps getting worse " we continued laughing.

"Imagine, by the time I'm thirty if I get to thirty "

"Oh, don't say that. We'll make it to thirty," I assured him. "It all ends with Voldemort's death. By the time I'm thirty, I'll be a world-class actress. What about you?"

"An Auror, of course. It's my responsibility."

"Haven't you served the country long enough?" I asked him. "You should do something you like, not something that you feel it's your responsibility. You should play Quidditch!"

"Yeah " he said dreamily. "I always wanted that. Still, I don't know. Auror just feels right."

We stayed in silence a few moments. The water and the sandwiches had been consumed. We were sitting right next to each other, our arms touching. I could feel the heat from his body.

I looked at him and detected some skepticism. I tried to smile as much as I could.

"We will live to see our thirties, Harry," I assured him. He smiled.

"I hope so," he said. He put his arm around my shoulders, and for a few seconds, I snuggled against him.

"We won't if we do nothing all evening, though," I said, standing up. I ignored Harry's disappointed look. "C'mon, up on your feet, let's keep working."

* * *

I managed to speak with my cousin the next morning. Actually, it was him who pushed me inside a broom closet between classes.

"Are you all right? Did something happen?" I asked, scared by his abrupt manners. I looked around; it was very small, but two buckets on the floor could definitely do as sits perfectly well.

"You've been lying to me, Lavinia" he said, with a bewildered look on his face. I shuddered.

I could barely stammer an apology.

"But it is all right, because now I understand everything" he then said in soothing tones, slightly amused at my reaction.

"Uh?"

"My mother confessed everything when I visited this weekend" he explained. He was smiling, and I couldn't help noticing that he looked quite relaxed and happy.

Exactly the opposite I was feeling right then.

"What do you mean by everything, Draco? I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Everything" he repeated. "The prophecy, your destiny oh" he then said, the happy look wiped from his face, replaced by a rather comic uncomfortable expression. "My mother told me you might not know yet But I wanted to take the risk "

"What? What prophecy? What destiny?" I demanded. Draco's face softened.

"You will see" he said in annoyingly patronizing tones.

"I don't understand" I told him. I was feeling very sick by then. "What on Merlin's wand are you talking about?"

"I'm so sorry" he said after a moment of silence. "But they've lied to us for years."

"Lied about what?"

"You" he said, as if it was obvious. "They've lied, they've held information, kept secrets "

"I'm tired of secrets!" I yelled on the verge of tears. I felt my powers going out of my control, a time bomb inside my chest, and fought every thought I had in order to control my condition. I might kill us both in a burst of temper. "Please, Draco. Please. Tell me what's going on, or I swear, I will make you."

"You'll know soon enough. It will be revealed to you in the right time."

"But I want to know now!"

"My tongue is tied" he confessed, sighing. "Quite literally. My own mother cursed me."

"I can undo it!"

"Not even you can undo a blood spell with just your hands" he reminded me. "And by the time you are ready to do it, you'll already know."

I breathed hard, and tried to calm myself down. I did my best to stop tears from coming out and used all my power of concentration to start thinking rationally again.

"Why did you tell me all this then?" I berated him. Draco looked down on me with a tender brotherly look.

"I thought you might know, but if you didn't, I wanted to put you on your guard" he said, with a small, sympathetic smile. "And I wanted to tell you that I will support you, no matter what."

I was too confused to say anything.

"I'll see you later, little cousin" he said, reaching for the door.

"Draco" I called him before he could leave, a doubt burning in my heart. "Do you know who my father is?"

Draco's face sobered.

"Yes. And I am very, very sorry."


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, they would be alive!

Please, do review. I know there are a lot of you reading, because my stats say so and I am on many Story Alerts. I want to hear from you! Even if it's just to say "Update soon!"

* * *

The conversation with Draco occupied my mind most of the time from then on, and during the week I seeked him out with questions which answers he denied me. The whole affair made me increasingly nervous and the teachers caught me distracted more than once. Hannah Tyler paid for it when I added the troll warts too early, and our potion was ruined.

Things just got worse. In addition to one of my few friends not talking to me, the air was exceptionally chilly on the Gryffindor table when I sat down for dinner on Wednesday night.

"Hello, Lavinia," Ginny said, quite obviously upset. "Any news?"

"No," I answered, confused by the sarcastic question.

"Really?" Hermione insisted in the same tone, to my great surprise. "Nothing to tell us? At all?"

For a second, I thought they might know about the mysterious prophecy, but it didn't make much sense when I didn't know anything about it myself.

And anyway, it wasn't something to speak about right at the Gryffindor table in the middle of a crowded Great Hall.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Hermione," I said. I looked around. Both Hermione and Ron were giving me betrayed looks. Ginny seemed somehow triumphant. Parvati and Lavender looked very intrigued.

Harry was staring at his plate, and not looking at me at all.

"What happened?" I asked fearfully.

"What do you think happened?" Hermione snapped.

"We heard some of your lot talking about you," Ginny said.

"My lot?" I repeated, foolishly thinking of actors, and putting all the blame immediately on Rosalind Hainsworth.

"Slytherins," Ron clarified. "Pureblood Slytherins."

I stared at them, dumbfounded. I had already told Harry about my shameful, out of wedlock birth, and it wasn't as if they would care that much about pureblood society's strict rules

"We know who you really are, Lavinia Malfoy," Ginny said gleefully. I could hear Parvati and Lavender gasp.

"Oh," I managed to utter, feeling increasingly sick.

"Oh, indeed," Hermione said. All four of them got up, their plates empty.

"C'mon, let's go to the Tower," Hermione said.

"But, dinner..." Ron complained in a very audible whisper.

"We can go get something from the kitchens, Ron," Ginny said between her teeth.

"Harry, wait," I said, my eyes filled with tears already.

Harry turned around, and gave me the worse look I had ever been given. Not even my uncle Lucius had looked at me that way when I told him I was to be an actress.

I didn't know what to say or do. I just froze completely by his awful look of betrayal, disappointment and hate. Harry followed his friends and didn't look back, while I sat alone, biting my lip, trying my best not to cry.

* * *

The next few days were Hell on Earth. Coming out as a Malfoy cost me more than I had ever realized it would. Everyone seemed to feel deceived and betrayed- not only my friends, but my fans as well. All of a sudden, I wasn't welcomed at any table but Slytherin and that was only because Draco still inspired some respect (his friends Crabbe and Goyle seemed to had been told to break the nose of anyone who dared deny me a sit). The issue even made the news- some contemptuous soul sold the story to Rita Skeeter, who somehow got hold of old pictures of my mother and his Hogwarts boyfriends, and the entire Wizarding World was delighted in engaging on the riddle game. I was called in Reader's Mail a bastard, a black sheep, a mistake and a deceitful harlot (when the news hit Canada, I was sure my grandmother would punch the air triumphantly at that last one). None of those names were original, and I had used them all before on myself, but seeing it printed, for the whole world to see, was immensely painful.

I received all sorts of letters, hate mail the most prominent sort, but also a few kind lines from people in my situation or simply decent people who felt the situation was unfair to me.

Scarlett wrote a rather funny and entertaining condolence letter, sure that I needed some cheering up. The WADA sent me another one thanking the free publicity and asking me to promise an explanation to the press after Saturday night's show (I said I wouldn't, for now). Aunt Narcissa sent an unpleasant Howler in the middle of the night. Rosalind Hainsworth (I'm sure it was her) sent me a facial disfigurement curse in an envelope, but thankfully I detected and neutralized it in time.

The hate mail and the constant inquiries of the press kept me busy and locked up in my private dormitory. Out of pity, Hannah Tyler forgave me and helped me with my mail, and if it wasn't for those two things, those would have been the loneliest days of my life. I missed my made-up life more than ever, and cursed my family for having forced me to tell all those lies.

On Thursday evening, I waited in vain for two hours inside the Room of Requirement. Harry never showed up. I Apparated myself back to my dormitory (the effort exhausted even me) and cried all night.

On Friday evening, the moment I was fearing the most arrived: the two-way mirror glowed gold.

"Hello, mum," I said. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, love," my mother sighed, and smiled sadly. "It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is," I answered, unable to control the obvious weeping voice. "I was careless these last few days, I think I've been talking to Draco too much, and "

"It is not your fault, love," she repeated. "It was going to happen sooner or later."

"But now everyone is talking about you, and trying to guess who my father is and making lists of all the boyfriends you had "

"And I'm half-way around the world and couldn't care less," she said firmly. "I'm thirty-two years old and I don't care anymore about any of them. Nobody made a big deal of it here, aside from a few uncomfortable questions, and these days it isn't as scandalous as it used to be."

"But "

"I am fine," she assured me. "Don't worry about me. I knew this was going to happen the second Narcissa mentioned Hogwarts, and I've been preparing for this for months. With Lucius in jail, nobody has that much respect or fear of us anymore."

"What did grandmother say?"

"Oh, she's furious, of course," my mother shrugged. "But Aricia told her quite a few things I never quite dared to say myself. It will take her sometime, but she'll get over it."

"Do you think she'll talk to me anytime soon?"

"Soon," my mother said, obviously lying. I smiled. "But, what about you? How are you?"

I shrugged.

"I'm coping," I lied."I'll be fine, too. Just wait until Celestina Warbeck gets another divorce, and everyone will forget about it."

"That's the spirit," she smiled. We chit-chatted a few more minutes, and then I fell asleep, exhausted.

* * *

When I arrived to the WADA on Saturday morning, it all looked as if nothing had ever happened. Oh, I loved this place.

"We had a little chat last night," Scarlett confessed during our lunch break. "Theseus and professor Kettleburn told everyone why you had to go by a different name and how your uncle felt about it all. And then we decided you had to take enough from everyone else and that we would pretend it never happened."

"It is much appreciated," I said, sipping my mineral water slowly. "I'll tell everyone after the show."

I was excused for my distractions during rehearsals and my performance wasn't as brilliant as usual. Theseus said it was fine and that it would give the papers something to talk about the following morning.

"I just wish they'd shut up," I said later that night, when I was back in Scarlett's beautiful London flat. "My whole life is being scrutinized by everyone "

"Well, you know that comes with the job," Scarlett said, clutching her tea mug, digging deeper into her futon.

"No, it comes with the surname," I said. "It's one thing when they are watching me because of what I do, and another when it's because of who I am and how I came to be. I'm so sick of it, Scarlett!"

"Oh, I know," she hugged me, her bright red locks obscuring my vision.

"I liked being Lavinia Smith. Now everyone is suspicious of my family's Death Eater ways and trying to guess who my father is and they don't see Lavinia Smith, lead actress of the WADA, they see Lavinia Malfoy, bastard child, the embarrassment of the family "

"I think your own Uncle Lucius is much worse of an embarrassment these days, Vinny," Scarlett said, seriously. "It's the name Malfoy that embarrasses you and not you the embarrassment of the Malfoy family."

I pondered over that, sipping my tea, accommodating my body to the irregular shape of the futon.

"I liked keeping the two separate" I confessed in a whisper. "Two more years, and I'd been able to buy a flat just like this." I extended my arms, as if trying to embrace the paradise I so often took refuge in. "And never stop being Lavinia Smith. Write off everything else as a bad dream. A Malfoy no more." I turned to my friend. "Now I'll never be able to do that."

"I know," she whispered. We stayed silent I don't know how long, until Scarlett's naturally feisty nature forced me to snap out of my nostalgia. We watched more of our favorite anime series, Paradise Kiss- we enjoyed the last episode that night, and I cried even more than I normally would. We fell asleep with the telly still on to smile at, with happy, tiny Muggles inside cracking jokes for us.

* * *

After my two public appearances during the weekend, the papers commented mostly on how sad I looked and how rude I was to not make any statements. They had been harassing my family too- a journalist complained about being thrown out by my Aunt Aricia from her house in Canada, another because my Aunt Narcissa and Draco gave a statement saying they would not give a statement, in fear anything they said might harm my uncle's defense in the upcoming trial, and another because a cease and desist order prohibited them from mentioning the name Malfoy in the showbiz section again.

At school, things got quieter. I still wasn't able to sit in any table but Slytherin, but at least nobody was whispering curses and insults at me. It was easier to get by, but I wasn't any happier- the people I cared about the most were still not speaking to me.

I was going to skip Monday's training class, sure that Harry wasn't going to show up, but when the time arrived, I was summoned to Dumbledore's office through my faithful, painted companion, Calliope Malfoy.

"Lavinia, dear, I am very pleased to see you," Dumbledore said, as soon as I came through his door.

"Thank you, sir," I said, and I froze. Right in front of me, staring at the floor, was Harry Potter.

"Harry and I were having a little chat," he said, as I took a sit. "He still doubts my judgment- he is entitled to- but he has heard my side of the argument, and is ready to present you with his apologies."

My heart jumped. I was filled with hope all of a sudden, and my mind started whispering a silly wish.

Harry was not looking at me, yet. Dumbledore sighed, got up, and asked us to follow him.

He opened a door and revealed a luxurious dining room on the other side- the table was set for two, delicious looking food resting on the plates.

"This dining room has hosted the most remarkable figures of the last thousand years," Dumbledore said. "The best witches and wizards from all over the world, powerful politicians, foreign dignitaries and even kings and queens. And it is yours for the night."

Harry gaped, astounded.

"Thank you, sir!" I said as profusely as I could.

"The two of you are in need of a serious conversation. Stay as long as you want." He smiled. "You will not disturb me at all."

He winked, and his eyes twinkled as he closed the door.

We took our sits on opposite sides of the table, and started our dinner with tension still in the air.

"Why did you lie to me?" Harry asked suddenly.

"I never lied," I said, trying to dominate my emotions and use the calmest tones I had. "When we met, I told you Lavinia Smith was my stage name."

"Oh, so you just never told me your real name?" he said angrily.

"You never asked!" I snapped. "Why do you think I never told you I was a Malfoy? I knew how you were going to react!"

"Well, of course I was going to react!" he answered with a scowl. "It was your uncle that almost killed Ginny when she was only eleven, and who tried to kill us all last June, and your aunt who killed Sirius!"

"And that's my fault, is it?" I yelled, furious. "Because I, the fifteen-year-old bastard child, have all the authority over what my elders do!"

"Well, of course it's not your fault," he conceded. "But you are still one of them "

"One of them?" I whispered. "I told you all about how different I am from my family, I " he looked unconvinced, and a thought came to mind. "You just mentioned Sirius Black, right?" He nodded. "Well, he went to Azkaban without a trial because everyone else judged him immediately, just because of his surname no one cared about who he really was, they just saw the surname Black and labeled him a Death Eater and tossed him into Azkaban Don't you realize you are doing the same thing to me?"

He looked chastised and guilty. He stayed silent for a while, and I chewed furiously a chunk of duck in a very unladylike manner.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, looking at me in the eye for the first time. "I'm really sorry."

I didn't answer.

"I just I wish you'd have told me yourself."

"You are right," I conceded. "I wish I would have told you, instead of having you finding out through gossip. I'm sorry about that."

"I just " he sighed. "The first thing I thought "

"I know what you first thought," I mumbled.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. I finally smiled at him.

"It's OK, I suppose. It's liberating to be out, once and for all. I was always scared of being discovered."

"Yeah," he swallowed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry we confronted you at the Gryffindor table. If we had done it in private, no one would have heard and you wouldn't have journalists trying to break into your aunt's house "

"You didn't realize this would happen," I tried to rationalize it. "You had no idea it would turn into something this big."

"I swear, I didn't." He assured me. "Hermione feels really guilty. She misses you a lot."

I smiled. It was nice to be missed.

"I missed you a lot," he said, surprising me. I looked at him, locking my eyes to his. "I was really angry, because well, because I like you a lot. I think I really, really like you, Lavinia."

I had a sudden urge to laugh, joy filling my soul, my lips forming a wide smile I couldn't possibly hide.

"Oh, Harry," I said. "I really, really like you, too."

Maybe my lessons really were fruitful, because he arrived to my side faster than the eye can see; before I realized it, his thumb was on my chin, and our noses touched before our lips finally did. He kissed me slowly at first, his fingers softly caressing my cheeks, but then the kiss turned deeper and more real, and his hands were on my waist, as mine were playing with the hair in the back of his neck.

I felt I was flying through clouds, and that the Sun was, finally, shining on me.

* * *

Outside the dining room, Albus Dumbledore was smiling happily.

"My dear Miss Calliope," he told the painting, "do be kind enough to visit your portrait on Malfoy Manor and tell Narcissa the first part of the prophecy has become a reality."

Calliope smiled.

"I will be delighted, kind sir" she curtsied, and then she was gone.

* * *

Remember to leave a review, even if it's short! If I get seven reviews, I'll have a surprise for you next week. Let's call it a DVD extra.


	6. Chapter 6

I AM SO SO SORRY! I'm trying to finish my semester, and that means spending most time buried in books rather than buried in fanfiction. It will soon be over, I promess! There are only three more chapters to go, anyway!

PLEASE, DO REVIEW!

* * *

If the past week had been Hell on Earth, this one was Heaven. On Tuesday morning, splattered across two pages, there was a detailed photograph of Celestina Warbeck's husband passionately kissing Rosalind Hainsworth at the door of a muggle hotel not far from the WADA. I was welcomed back at the Gryffindor table by a guilt-ridden Hermione and an embarrassed Ron. Upon seeing me holding hands with The Boy Who Lived, the rest of the school forgave me for being a Malfoy, and soon I was doing rounds across the tables, legions of fans assuring me they had never stopped being loyal to me. Inwardly, I forgave them too. And last but not least, when I tried to speak to my mother to tell her the good news, my Aunt Aricia told me she was out having dinner with a Canadian wizard; a widower who worked for the local Ministry and had a thirteen year old son.

Even my grades went up, despite having never been low at all.

I was barely mentioned on the papers and my performances were top-notch again. For the next couple of weeks, I walked through clouds. Harry and I were perfect for each other. We spent a lot of time together, inside and outside of the Room of Requirement- his training sessions were getting a lot more intense. Dumbledore also asked me to include Ron and Hermione- things were starting to get really serious, but we tried to ignore it in order to continue living the dream.

There was only one thing that almost spoiled our happiness, and as usual, it was published in the papers by mid November. There was a picture of Harry and me kissing on the courtyard and another one of us laughing to the camera, sitting at the Gryffindor table during breakfast, me sitting on Harry's lap and his arms hugging my waist. The headlines said: "HARRY POTTER AND LAVINIA MALFOY- FOUND LOVE AT LAST?"

"Oi, Colin," Harry said as soon as I passed him the paper. "Didn't you take these pictures of us?"

Colin looked at the page, perplexed.

"Yeah," he said. "But I gave the negatives to Ginny. She said she wanted to frame them and give them to Lavinia as a gift y'know, to say sorry."

The four of us looked at each other, appalled. I looked around; Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't believe this," I said, furious, as I got up from the table and run out of the Great Hall.

"Vinny, wait!" I heard Harry yell. I didn't stop. Angry, I stomped through the hallways in direction of my dormitory.

Harry followed me, and entered behind me.

"I can't believe we are not allowed to have even the slightest bit of peace," I complained, as Harry sat on one of the armchairs and eyed his surroundings curiously.

"This is where you live?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, annoyed. "Can we go back to your best friend's sister outing us to the press, please?"

"Sorry," he said. "I can understand that you are mad at Ginny, and I am, too. But well, it's not so bad, is it? The press has said less kind things about us, hasn't it?""

I gaped, unsure of what to say.

"I just hate that my life is printed and sold like a cheap romance novel."

"Never publish a biography, then."

"Harry, I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious, too," he said calmly. "You chose acting; you knew this came with it. I, on the other hand, never made a choice."

"Right," I conceded. "I'm sorry. I didn't think of it."

"It's fine," he sighed. I sat on his lap, cuddling against him. I turned the fireplace on with a snap of my fingers; the room was considerably cold.

"Do you wish you were somebody else, sometimes?" I asked him.

"Yes. Not now, though." He played with a small curl that reached my waist today and I smiled and kissed him.

"So, are you OK with it, then?" he asked. "Everyone knowing we are together?"

"Yeah," I said timidly. "If we are that serious "

We kissed again.

"We are," he said, between kisses. "We should skip classes this morning."

"Yeah, we should," I said, and with a wave of my hand I signaled for Calliope Malfoy to stop staring and leave us alone.

* * *

"You must be furious," Hermione said that afternoon, while we were studying in the library.

"I am a bit," I recognized. "But the result of her actions is not so bad "

"It's just that she did it, right?" Hermione said, and I nodded.

"Exactly. I just can't understand why she was so mean."

"Well " Hermione shifted in her chair uncomfortably. "You know that she had a crush on Harry, don't you?"

"Yeah. I also knew that she was dating Dean Thomas."

"They broke up weeks ago, Lavinia," Hermione sighed. "Dean finally realized that Ginny liked Harry more than she ever liked him. She thinks that if you had never showed up she would be with Harry by now."

"Well, it's not my fault that Harry fell in love with me," I snapped. "I didn't even choose to come to Hogwarts in the first place."

"It's no one's fault," Hermione said. "She'll get over it."

"Talking about my psycho sister?" Ron asked. He and Harry had just walked up to our table.

"Yeah," I said.

"I'm sorry about that," he said. "It was very wrong, what she did. Really unfair."

"It's fine," I sighed, because I daren't say anything to her brother.

"No, really, you've a right to be mad," insisted Ron. "I just wanted to apologize on her behalf."

I looked curiously at Hermione, who was smiling proudly, and instantly knew that she had put him up to it.

"Thanks, Ron," I said. "That's really kind of you."

He looked satisfied with himself, and Harry smiled at me.

"See?" Hermione told him. "You shouldn't feel bad for what your sister did."

"I just think she's not all right, Hermione," Ron complained "and that we should've noticed it sooner."

"She's just a little hurt. She'll get over it," she repeated. "Don't worry," she added and then gave him a peck on the cheek. Harry and I smiled at each other again.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Harry said, looking at his watch. I looked at mine; Saturn was on the sixth house and the Sun in the ninth.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be late," I said, rising from my chair.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"To a meeting with Dumbledore," Harry explained, and we left the library. "What do you think he wants?" he asked me.

"Dunno," I shrugged, as we reached the golden doors.

Dumbledore was already expecting us, sitting behind his desk. He immediately looked at our hands, which were firmly held together, and his eyes twinkled.

"It's very good to see the two of you together. Please, sit," he showed us two comfy chairs.

Harry and I looked at each other, slightly confused and very intrigued. The portraits on the wall looked anxious. I spotted Calliope Malfoy leaning against an old Headmaster's chair who bore the Malfoy family looks.

"Tea?" Dumbledore offered, as a tea-tray materialized itself in the air. We nodded, and I took a cucumber sandwich from the plate and began chewing it nervously.

"Is this about the prophecy, sir?" I blurted out, unable to contain myself. Harry looked at me with his mouth opened, Dumbledore was simply a bit surprised.

"Your mother told me you were completely unaware "

"I was, but Draco mentioned it accidently."

"What?" Harry interrupted. "There's a prophecy about her? And nobody told me?"

"I only know that it exists," I said quickly. "But Draco wouldn't tell me anything about it, he was tongue-tied. I was waiting to know something about it before telling anyone "

"Well, it is now time that you do," Dumbledore said slowly sitting straight in his chair.

I felt slightly sick, and held Harry's hand even tighter.

"While you were being born, the Healer who used to scry you while you were inside the womb went into a trance and made a prophecy. The ones who heard her were your mother, although she was somewhat distracted by the birth; your grandmother and your Aunt Narcissa, who were accompanying your mother; and the Healer who brought you into the world, Healer Marlene McKinnon, a member of the Order. Naturally, she immediately informed me of it."

"But what did the prophecy say?" Harry asked anxiously. I was unable to utter a single word.

"Would you care to see for yourselves?" Dumbledore asked, and with a movement of his wand, a Pensieve appeared on the desk.

Harry and I entered the Pensieve. It was a horrific sight; my mother was in an uncomfortable-looking bed, screaming for more anesthetic charms. She looked impossibly young, and very much like me, despite the messy hair and the sweat on her frown. She was quite obviously giving birth to me.

We moved away quickly, behind my grandmother and my Aunt Narcissa, who were holding my mother's hands. Next to them there was a young woman inclined over a scrying bowl full of water. The reflection inside was that of a baby girl inside the womb, struggling against the flesh walls.

"It looks like she is having trouble coming out," the scrier said.

"She'd better come out NOW!" my mother yelled.

"It'll be fine, Lucia, just concentrate on your breathing and I'll give her a couple more charms " the Healer said.

There was a loud crash and the scrying bowl shattered against the floor. The young woman was still, her eyes unnaturally opened, fixed to the wall. She opened her mouth, and with an ethereal voice, she chanted:

"A child is coming, born from the darkest forces, into a world of war and blood. She has been gifted with powers beyond imagination, and she shall use them to defeat her past. She will be forever joined by true love to the child that shall defeat evil five times, and together they will be the bringers of peace and stop more young blood from being spilled."

Around me there was silence, except for my mother who kept panting. A scream from her, demanding attention, snapped everyone out of their own trances of surprise. The girl finally reacted.

"Oh, look what a mess I've done! Forgive me, Healer McKinnon!" she said, rushing out the room to get another bowl.

It took us some time to react. When we finally heard the cry of a newborn child, we were pulled out of the Pensieve.

"Well?" Dumbledore said as soon as we took a sit.

"Does that mean " Harry cleared his throat, "that I don't have to face Voldemort alone? That I must face him with Lavinia?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered. I raised my eyes, and looked at them both. Harry seemed suddenly so relieved that I had an epiphany. I had been about to complain about the unfairness of it all- that I would have liked to be a normal witch and nothing more than a good actress, but it wasn't like that. The contents of the prophecy didn't matter. I had been set to face down Voldemort at Harry's side a long time ago; to be told that it was my destiny did not affect the outcome at all. Au contraire, it said that we were to be the 'bringers of peace'. It meant we would succeed!

"Are you okay, Lavinia?" Harry asked.

"Yes," I said, optimistic, but feeling incredibly tired. "I, ehm I just need to sleep on it."

"A wise choice," Dumbledore said. "We shall discuss it in the morning."

We exited the office and Harry walked me to my dormitory. Draco was pacing the hallways, as it was his custom, waiting for me.

"She's tired, Malfoy," Harry said as soon as he saw him. "Leave her alone."

"Actually, I'd like to talk to him," I said. Harry nodded and kissed me goodnight. When I turned to Draco, he was pretending to gag.

"You are an idiot," I said, as I showed him inside.

"I can't believe Potter of all people is your destined soul-mate," he complained, and we looked at each other in surprise. "Hey! I can talk about it! They told you?"

"Just now," I said, sitting opposite him, in the same chair Harry and I had used that morning. Draco was, of course, on my favourite chair.

"Are you all right?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I suppose it was what I was planning to do all along."

"You won't be alone," he said, serious. "I mean, obviously you'll be with Potter, and his friends will want to be there, but I will be standing by your side too, you know?"

I smiled.

"I know," I said, feeling increasingly grateful.

"We do have a plan," he confided in whispers. "My mother knows exactly when Voldemort is in the Manor and when he is alone. We can catch him by surprise and without an entourage of Death Eaters."

"It sounds like a very good plan," I said, surprised by the rapidness of it all.

"We just need to be ready on time."

"Of course," I sighed. "Then, we train."


	7. Chapter 7

I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, but here it is, the first part of the finale! I do hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Off to write the second part, now!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Hedwig, she would have been able to fly off to freedom!

* * *

Draco joined us for our twice a week trainings, to everyone's irritation (including Draco's). It was Hermione who managed to bring some peace to the Room of Requirement, reminding everyone that we were working together for a common goal and civility would help, but friendship was not necessary. Even Draco respected her after that.

We also drew a careful plan. Draco had been working, in another manifestation of the Room of Requirement, on a Vanishing Cabinet whose twin was in Malfoy Manor- we had a secret, discreet way in.

To the trio's annoyance, we depended heavily on my Aunt Narcissa, whom Harry particularly mistrusted. She was the one whose job was to inform us when Voldemort was alone and no Death Eaters were supposed to come see him. Harry and I would take on him alone, with support from Ron, Hermione and Draco. They would fight if they were needed, but mostly would make sure we were alone and in a secure environment.

Dumbledore approved of our plan, and offered the Order's help, but we rejected it. Not only we thought we had a higher chance of succeeding if there were no people around to worry about, but if our plan worked, they wouldn't be necessary against a lone and surprised Voldemort. I did asked him to stage an Order meeting that night; to distract Voldemort and to have them all together and on call should the need arise.

The call reached us one Saturday evening. We were working hard on air-controlling spells (anything non conventional was an advantage against our enemy) when the voice of my aunt was suddenly heard from the depths of Draco's bag.

"Draco? Draco! It's time! I need to talk to you!" she was yelling, with a note of urgency and fear.

We froze.

Everyone interchanged looks of fear and determination as Draco took his two-way mirror out of his bag and faced Narcissa. He looked even paler than usual and a little sick.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Draco, it's time," I heard my aunt say, and I felt a twitch in my stomach. Her voice didn't sound right.

"All right," Draco nodded. "We'll be there as soon as we can," he said and put the mirror back in the bag.

"Oh, Merlin," muttered Ron, his face looking just as sickly as Draco's.

"Does anyone have second thoughts?" I asked. Everyone looked at me with exasperation. "Does anyone wish to practice one last spell?" I insisted.

"I doubt we'll improve much after just one more practice," Harry said. "Is the First Aid's kit ready?"

"It has been for the last two weeks," Hermione answered wearily.

"And we all have got everything we need," Ron said. I looked at Draco, who simply nodded.

"I'll send a Patronus to Dumbledore, so he can call for an Order meeting," Harry said. He, too, looked pale. I took his hand after he had sent his silver stag to the Headmaster.

"We need to go out to the hallway so we can enter the Room of Hidden Things," Draco said.

We did so, and we re-entered the Room to find the mysterious and exciting place full of millenary crap. Hermione and I hid behind a mountain of school bags from all ages and changed our school robes for protective black clothes given to us by the Weasley twins. Those muggle garments- trousers and trainers- would give us perfect moving range for battle and were enchanted to bounce off simple curses (which, technically, we were not expecting to be in the receiving end of). We could hear the boys doing the same on the other side. I made my hair short and Hermione used a quick spell to put hers up on a bun (she looked a bit like McGonagall). When we came out, the boys were waiting for us next to the Vanishing Cabinet.

"It gets very dark in the middle, even by wand-light, but it's normal and you should just keep walking," Draco explained nervously. "Please, don't use magic inside of it, apart from _Lumos_. The pathway is still very delicate and I fear we might end up lost if we mess with it somehow."

"What do you mean- lost?" Ron asked anxiously. "You mean we might just never come out and starve to death in there?"

"If you mess up with it, then yes," Draco snapped. "But if you just walk ahead, don't touch anything, and keep you wand in your pocket and we should all be fine. And it comes out to my room- don't touch anything in there, either."

"Come on, boys," I said in a fake cheery voice. "We are marching towards death together, surely there's no need for bickering. Let's go inside, then."

Draco opened the door, and in we went. I let Harry go first, and then Ron and Hermione entered holding hands. I looked at Draco, questioningly.

"What is it, coz? There's something you are not telling."

Draco smiled. "We all have secrets. But don't worry," he rolled his eyes "I'm not betraying you or anything."

I smiled too, and we stepped in. Harry was already a few yards inside, and we could see the pale white light of his wand showing the way. We left the entrance opened, even if only to be sure of where the exit was.

I walked quickly ahead to reach Harry and hold his hand. We were walking towards our destiny, it was only fitting that we arrived to it together.

As Draco had warned us, our grand entrance was only witnessed by a portrait of Augustus Malfoy, who bowed to our presence but made no sound, surely asked so by Aunt Narcissa. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked curiously around Draco's luxurious and spacious room. It was decorated in tones of grey and silver and his antique furniture was made of yew, his four poster bed dominating the space, the family emblem hanged above the pillows. Hermione went straight to his book shelves, Ron to the little chess table with an ivory set. Harry eyed a Quidditch table set, enchanted to reproduce any Quidditch match, which had been the last gift his father had given him. I smiled as Draco finally came out of the Cabinet.

"What did I say about touching my things?" he immediately whispered, folding his arms.

"We were just looking," Ron said, annoyed. I suppressed a giggle.

"To business, now," I reminded them, and all trace of merriment disappeared. I waved my hand and a Disillusionment Charm bathed us until we could barely distinguish each other's shapes.

"You all remember the way to the ball room? That's where Mother is supposed to hold him," Draco asked. We all whispered yes. He opened the door to the hallway and slowly we moved outside the bedroom, trying not to step on each other and to dodge furniture and vases that decorated the hallways and rooms we passed.

"This is it," Draco said when we reached the first floor and were facing two great white and gold doors. I removed the charms from Harry and me, and, together, we pushed the doors open.

I had had a nagging feeling that something was amiss, but I had convinced myself it was the nerves and the fear. The sight we found was not a surprise although it still made me gasp.

Voldemort was sitting in Uncle Lucius' big dinning chair, resembling a throne on its own in that grand room. He was smiling, looking like he was expecting us, and indeed he was. On his right, with a triumphant, hungry look, Bellatrix stood holding my Aunt Narcissa at wand point. Her look of desperation seemed to deepen when she saw us come through the doors.

"Welcome," Voldemort hissed with his horrible, cold voice. "Come inside, we were expecting you."

Harry and I looked at each other, our plan to attack without a moment's hesitation now useless. With a look, we decided to wait. Maybe one of the others was realizing that the smart thing to do was to send Dumbledore a Patronus asking for rescue…

"Harry Potter, my good, old, reliable enemy," Voldemort continued. "And Lavinia Malfoy- quite the surprise isn't it, Narcissa? I thought she was killing Dumbledore, not plotting against me."

Harry looked at me quizzically, but before I could explain, Bellatrix interrupted me.

"But the icky little sweet lovebirds wouldn't come on their own, now, would they?" she said in an awful mocking baby voice, her wand playfully moving along Aunt Narcissa's neck.

"Indeed, they wouldn't," Voldemort said, and with a move of his wand, Draco, Ron and Hermione became visible.

"Draco, I thought my face in the mirror was enough sign of something amiss!" Narcissa yelled, as her sister yanked her back by pulling her hair and shushing in her ear.

"I couldn't not come, Mother," Draco said, obviously wanting but not quite daring to go to her. Bellatrix's imposing, threatening presence kept us all in line.

"We would have changed our plan, had you said something," Ron whispered to him.

"So," Voldemort interrupted them. "Are you here to kill me?" he asked, amused.

"If you knew we were coming, how come none of your friends are here with you?" Harry asked harshly. "Last time, you invited them all for the party."

"But not even you brought your whole entourage, Potter," he answered. "This was obviously supposed to be an intimate party. A family reunion, I daresay."

I could see that Harry was as puzzled as me by his last words. Meanwhile, Bellatrix had her eyes set on me, not with the merry gleam that shone in her eyes when she was looking at a victim, but with true hate and a calculating air about her. Something clicked inside my head.

But, no… surely, no…

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. Voldemort fixed his eyes on me.

It was impossible.

"No…" I whispered, tears rapidly filling my eyes, fear and desperation creeping up on me in a more terrible way I had ever felt.

"Hasn't she told you?" Voldemort said, mockingly.

"You are lying!" I yelled.

"What?" Harry asked, confused. I wanted to say it first; I wanted to apologize to him before he could back away from me. But I couldn't bring myself to believe it, and I only managed to hold tight to his hand.

"You are my son, Harry Potter."

"What?" Harry almost laughed, disbelievingly.

"If the two of you are soul mates, as Narcissa tells me…" Voldemort smiled, "then, you are my son. My _son_-_in-law_."

"I won't believe it!" I declared in a futile attempt to stop it from happening. Voldemort ignored me.

"Lavinia Malfoy is my daughter, Harry Potter. Welcome to the family."

* * *

So! What did you think of my big revelation? Did you guess it? Did I manage to surprise you? And what do you think of it? Leave me a review and tell me! I might publish the second part sooner if you do!


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Lucius Malfoy, he would be a werewolf!

* * *

"It's a lie, it's a great big fat lie!" I screamed, as Harry looked at me in shock and let go of my hand. "Don't believe him, he's just putting us against each other…!"

"It's not a lie, Lavinia" Aunt Narcissa said in a sad, apologetic voice. I forced myself to accept the fact. It did me no good to be distracted and distraught. I had to recover my focus.

"Fine. So you are my father" I faced him. "So what? You are no more than a _donor_. I am nothing like you."

"Besides" Draco interrupted "she's no more your daughter than she is a loyal Death Eater. She's a Malfoy and she belongs to us. This doesn't change her" he said rashly, and looked at Harry. "She's still Lavinia, and she chose who she belongs with a long time ago."

Harry looked guilty for a second, and grabbed my hand again immediately.

"Yes, well, on that subject" Voldemort interrupted conversationally. "Since when, exactly, aren't the Malfoys my loyal Death Eaters? You promised me Dumbledore's head on a silver plate."

"Dumbledore happened to make a better offer" I said. "Many more social benefits, you see."

"We've been planning this for years" Narcissa said, strangely delighted. "Since Lavinia was born, and she was prophecised to bring you down hand by hand with the Boy Who Lived…"

"You filthy traitor!" Bellatrix yelled, and let go of her, but before Narcissa could reach her wand, her sister shot her with a beam of red light and began twitching on the floor.

_Cruciatus._

"Stop it!" Draco screamed, and run to his mother. I stopped him from reaching her, it would do him no good to get so close to a Cruciatus Curse. Bellatrix wouldn't stop until she'd had her fill…

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all taking their wands out with what obviously seemed a plan. I shuddered- he would notice, he wouldn't be pleased at all…

"Bella, leave it, our guests are not enjoying themselves" Voldemort said, and turned to the trio. "What's the matter? Is it too much for Dumbledore's golden children?"

"It's torture" Hermione whispered with hatred.

"_It's torture!_" Bellatrix mocked her. "And do you know what happens to traitors after torture, little girl?" She raised her wand to Narcissa, and she automatically pushed her son away. Draco fell near me, and I picked him up, restraining him from going back to his mother. "They get killed" Bellatrix finished, and right after "_Avada-"_ she raised her wand to me. "-_Kedavra!_"

"Bella, no!" Voldemort screamed, disarming her. I didn't move, but Draco, with a determined face, yanked me down as he got up from the floor and took the beam of green light right on the chest.

"_NO!_" Aunt Narcissa screamed, and dragged herself to the limp body of his son, who had fallen on me. "_Not my child, not my baby, no!"_

I hugged him one last time, and closed his eyes. His face still expressed the determination that had driven him to take his aunt's killing curse and receive it in my place.

I swallowed my tears and let his mother hold and cry on him. Hermione landed at their side with her bag of medicines, as if she could actually do something, while Ron tried to restrain her. I stood up, looked at my boyfriend, who seemed shocked and pained, and faced my father.

"Are you planning to kill us all, then?" I asked him.

"Yes" he said simply, and rejoiced in doing so. "And I am going to kill the two of you myself" he added looking at Bellatrix, who didn't seem happy. "You can do whatever you want with the other two."

"Oh, I don't think so" Narcissa said suddenly, and a killing curse was fired from her wand, hitting the chest of her surprised and unarmed sister instantly.

"_NO!"_ Voldemort screamed, but it was late; Bellatrix's corpse was on the floor, as still as her nephew. "You are going to regret that, Narcissa" he said with his silky voice, his red eyes shining dangerously, and he raised his wand.

I looked at Harry, and he nodded. Count to three, and we begin…

"No, _you_ are going to regret that" Narcissa surprised us all, walking to Voldemort and putting her wand to his chest, but she didn't seem to be about to curse him. "You are the one who caused all of this".

My aunt was shaking, her voice betrayed every bit of her grief, but also the bottled up anger she seemed to have saved for decades.

"You, our pureblood champion, bollocks to that. You broke us all- Malfoys and Blacks, you got into our cores and you broke us all" she continued, and pointed at her sister's corpse. "_That _stopped being my sister a long time ago. I stopped having sisters a long time ago. You _relished_ on destroying the Blacks and then you set your mind to break the Malfoys, too. You killed Abraxas Jr. You set a trap for Lucius. And you tried to ruin little Lucia's life." She got even closer to him, eye to eye, the disgust clear on her face. "The two most powerful pureblood families, destroyed. Because you wanted it all for yourself. Well… we are not taking your shit anymore."

"You can't kill me, Narcissa" Voldemort said, savouring every word out of my aunt's mouth as if they were compliments. "I cannot be killed, whatever these children and Dumbledore think."

"Oh, yes, you can" Narcissa purred, and walked away, to the wall. She opened a hidden cabinet behind a wood panel, and looked inside a drawer. "Remember this?" she threw him something dark and small. It landed on his feet. It looked like a little black book with a great big hole.

"Riddle's Diary" Harry said. Voldemort paled.

"That, Harry, is a Horcrux" my aunt explained. "A horcrux is a recipient for a piece of a wizard's soul. As long as he has one of those, they work like anchors- the body might be destroyed, but their spirits remain bound to the Earth."

Voldemort laughed.

"Try, then. Kill me, and see what happens."

"Oh, you would die" Narcissa assured him, smiling. "Because we compared notes, you see- Dumbledore and me. That one was destroyed by Harry Potter- but then this-" she took another object from the drawer, this time a much smaller one. When it landed on the floor, it looked like a ring with a cracked stone "was found in the old Gaunt shack. Your lovely Slytherin family- tramps living in the dirt with muggles. Dumbledore destroyed that one."

Voldemort was no longer smiling as he bent over to grab the ring and examine it.

"And then, my poor cousin Regulus died retrieving this" she threw a larger piece of jewelry- a golden locket with a heavy chain, also broken. "He left it with his house elf, and then the Order of the Phoenix found it…"

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, apparently recognizing it.

"They destroyed it when Dumbledore told them what it was. So kind of Regulus, leaving it at hand for us to find…" Narcissa was apparently delighted, as she kept rummaging through the drawer, hatred pouring through her pores. It was disturbing how much she resembled Bellatrix, and her mad ways. "I took this one out of Bellatrix's Gringott's vault. As her heir, I had a right to whatever that was in there." She threw him a great golden cup that looked ancient and burnt. My aunt then took what looked like a tiara and put it on her head. "We do wonder what is it with you and the founders. Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem…" Hermione gasped. "Oh, yes, Ravenclaw's famous enchanted diadem, reduced to a mere garbage holder. You travelled a long way for this…" Narcissa smiled, walking away from the drawer. "You'd think the dead would keep their silence, but you seem to have forgotten that _ghosts_ aren't particularly known for that. My _son_ destroyed this one. Really naïve of you, to think that no one knew the Room of Hidden Things. And the count is up to six."

My aunt turned around, happily throwing the diadem with the rest of the broken Horcruxes, dancing her way to another wood panel.

"But Tom Riddle was such a special boy he wanted to have his soul in seven pieces" she explained, dangerously mocking him. "Can you guess which one was the last?"

"You wouldn't dare" he sissed.

"Call it" Narcissa dared him. "Go on."

"_Nagini!"_ he sissed.

"He's calling the snake" Harry explained to Ron and Hermione. I looked at him, puzzled. "He spoke in parsel. You can probably understand him, it's an inheritable trait."

Nothing came.

Narcissa opened another wood panel with a touch of her wand, and the body of a great snake fell limp on the floor, its severed head next to it. Voldemort looked furious.

"It looks like my niece and I will be wearing the latest fashion this winter: snake boots."

Narcissa smiled and Voldemort raised his wand. Harry and I looked at each other.

One, two, three- lights out.

The battle had begun.

We took advantage of the dark to move and dodge Voldemort's powerful attacks. He still turned the lights on seconds after I managed to turn them off, so it was hit and run- we couldn't be in the same place after firing a curse, so we appeared in different places everytime the lights were on. He was really powerful; he managed to reject every beam of light he saw himself in the receiving end of.

Ron and Hermione were keeping up the air manipulating spells that were blowing a hard wind on Voldemort's face, screwing with his aim and concentration and rendering him unable to stand up from his seat. Keeping him in one place was vital as we kept firing at him in the dark. I could hear the chair cracking under the pressure of the magic directed at it.

It was difficult to dodge the many stray spells flying around the room. Voldemort only fired Killing Curses, but we were mainly trying to stun him- we could kill him once he was knocked out, and adding to the many Killing Curses flying around the room was an unnecessary risk. He managed to put up a strong shield, even against the wind, but it kept him from firing so he broke it immediately.

The confusion was getting at us. The few seconds of dark and light kept blinding us constantly, we were brushing with death at every instant (Voldemort's aim was improving, despite the wind) and he did not seem tired at all. I conjured a great, big, bubble of water around him, but he quickly did a Bubble charm around his head. I thought of conjuring fire, but if the house catched it (the walls were covered in wood and fabric) it would become uncontrollable and we might all die burning. I was desperately trying to come up with what to do, when I heard a _thud_ and stopped hearing Harry's voice shouting spells.

In a moment of light I allowed Voldemort to maintain, I saw Harry's body lying on the floor. Hermione run to him with her bag of medicines and I replaced her using all my magnomagus powers to create the wind that kept Voldemort in his seat- Ron took Harry's place and Narcissa kept on firing curses. I made it dark again.

"He's alive!" Hermione screamed. I sighed my relief, though panic took me immediately. If he didn't wake up soon, I wasn't sure how much longer I would last using my magic in such vast proportions. What would happen when I passed out? The moment was dangerously close.

I used the last of my strength to yank his wand out of his hand. I failed, and fell on the floor.

The lights were on.

"What are you?" Voldemort whispered with shock on his face, impressed.

"Magnomagus" I finally confessed. There was a noise behind me- the door was opened.

I prayed that it was Dumbledore and the Order. Surely, they could all take on Voldemort…

"Long time no seen, _my Lord_" said a very familiar voice.

"Mother?" I whispered from my place on the floor. Narcissa was holding her wand to his neck, my mother run to him and put her wand to his chest and Ron was holding him from the other side.

Hermione was on the floor with Harry, administering him Healing potions. I heard someone land by my side.

"Drink this, it will help get some of your strength back" said a blonde elegant woman, whose features I could barely recognize.

"Hello, Aunt Aricia" I said.

"Yes, yes, you're so grown, I'm so old, _drink this quickly_."

"…drink this little potion, and you'll provide your part for the cause, you said" my mother was saying. "Provide me a child to fight the prophecy child and your brother gets to live. You bloody liar. Did you think I would leave her on her own?"

"I suggest you drop your wand" Narcissa said. "There are three wands to you, and seven against you in the room. You stand no chance."

"I always stand a chance" he answered.

"You see, I lied to you earlier" Narcissa whispered. I saw Harry stirring and Hermione gasp in delight. "You were not mortal a few seconds ago. On Halloween, 1981, a piece of your soul broke off of you when you were hit by your own killing curse, and it landed on the nearest living thing."

I exchanged a surprised look with my aunt Aricia, who didn't seem surprised at all.

"I put Harry Potter on the path of one of your Killing Curses" Narcissa said. "I knew it wouldn't kill him. It just got rid of your last Horcrux."

Harry stood up, behind Voldemort. He didn't notice it. Harry looked at me. I understood him perfectly.

"You really are mortal now" Narcissa finished.

"So now you are going to kill me?" Voldemort asked, skeptically.

"No" Ron answered unexpectedly. "He will."

The three of them backed away instantly, and I used the whole of my little regained strength to turn the chair on itself so that Voldemort would face Harry Potter.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

"_Expelliarmus!_"

The green curse found the red spell in the air, and the twin cores battled for a few seconds. Soon, the green light bounced off the red light and hit its caster right before the red one did.

Voldemort's wand flew across the room as his hand fell limp to his side.

There was silence around the room for a second, and then a great sigh of relief. I saw Hermione and Ron running to embrace their friend, as Narcissa went straight to her son's body. My mother turned to me and held me against her chest and cried, and then she and her sister went to comfort their sister in law, and I found myself in Harry's arms. Ron and Hermione were kissing by Voldemort's body.

"Is he really dead?" I asked. Harry nodded.

"We did it" he said, and kissed me, right there on the floor, surrounded by corpses.

"I think I will faint of exhaustion" I warned him, slightly annoyed at the untimely energy drain.

Harry let out a carefree laugh.

"It's fine!" he assured me. "You did great."

I smiled, and those green eyes and that big smile were the last thing I saw.

* * *

It ain't over yet! There's an epilogue coming this way! I do hope you enjoyed the finale, please leave me a review and tell me what you thought!


	9. Epilogue: Seven Years Later

DISCLAIMER: If I owned the epilogue of Deathly Hallows… there wouldn't be a kid named Albus Severus, poor lad!

* * *

**Seven Years Later…**

The Wizarding Merlin Hall in London was the most crowded place I had ever seen. Rows and rows of seats were occupied by people from all over the world; enthusiasts and experts, critics and actors, directors and technicians, politicians and journalists, friends and family. Everyone was talking loudly, nervously and excitedly, the tension and expectations filling the atmosphere. Bets had been taken around the globe for weeks and tonight was the night, the WADA International Awards.

"And now, one of the most expected moments of the night," the MC said. "The category is… Best Actress of the Year."

The crowd clapped and cheered. I took Harry's hand, and he smiled at me trying to ease my nerves. Scarlett took my other hand and squealed, undermining the effects of my husband's calming smile.

"Presenting last year's holder of the award- Miss Scarlett Jones," the MC applauded, as Scarlett raised from my side, her seat in the first row, and climbed the steps while performing the sonorous charm on her throat. Her wonderful floor length red dress sparkled while showing the entirety of her back.

"Thank you, thank you all," she acknowledged the crowd's warm welcoming. "And the nominees are: Rosalind Hainsworth, for her role as Circe on _Circe_, the classical anonymous play."

The crowd cheered; I clapped politely. Even after all these years, Rosalind and I weren't very fond of each other.

"Charlotte Poquelin, for her role as Georgette Jourdain on _Wand-Crossed Lovers_ by Valere Pernelle."

I clapped enthusiastically. I had enjoyed that play immensely. Harry pulled a face, jokingly; he had been bored to death.

"Iori Yoshizumi, for her role as Megumi Katsura on _Autumn Leaves Are Not Golden_, by Nobuhiro Ikari."

Much of the audience cheered, and I clapped along. I had missed that one during the festival, sadly.

"Atenea Duarte, for her role as Selene Suárez on _Moonlight, Mother Pearl and Belladonna_, by Sabrina Rodriguez."

I cheered quite shamelessly; I had adored it. My heart was pounding on my ears, my hands were hurting from all the applause and shaking. And I had seldom felt this sick.

"And finally, Lavinia Malfoy, for her role as Morgana on _Morgana_, by Perseus Featherworth."

From the stage, Scarlett smiled brightly at me as she received the closed envelope that contained the answer. I could see her hands shaking as badly as mine as she opened the seal. She read the name, and smiled.

Harry grabbed my hand tighter. My mother, sitting behind me, grabbed my free hand and kissed it.

"And the award goes to…"

I took a big breath.

"LAVINIA MALFOY, _Morgana_!" Scarlett's voice resounded throughout the Wizarding Merlin Hall, as the crowd exploded in cheers and applause. I cried and laughed at the same time, my heart hammering fast and hard. Harry kissed me and my mother embraced me; flashes exploded like fireworks in front of my eyes.

I rose from my seat even though my legs could barely hold me. I faced the crowd and smiled to my family, sitting in the seats around me. My grandmother wiped a proud tear from her cheek, and I felt on the top of the world.

That sensation would only be multiplied by a hundred when I climbed to the stage and the entirety of the Hall was before me, applauding me and showing me their love. Scarlett hugged me once I reached her side, and she jumped up and down on her stilettos like a teenage girl of twenty-nine years old.

"I love you, I love you, oh, you did it! I'm so proud!" she kept repeating, the Sonorous Charm still active. She put the charm on my own throat and I had to dominate it despite my intense emotion. I had a lot to say to the audience.

Scarlett positioned me under the lights and gave me the wonderful diamond statuette, which I held like a treasure. I gazed into it for a moment and sighed before I faced the crowd, who settled down.

"Thank you," I started. "Thank you everyone. It's been a true honor to take part on the International Theatre Festival this year, and an even greater honor to be nominated for this award among such talented and great actresses," I pointed at them with my hand, and the audience cheered. "And I can't even tell you about winning," I laughed, and the crowd laughed with me. I looked at Harry, barely visible, and gathered strength.

"I want to personally thank Professor Kettleburn and director Theseus Ravensdale, who guided me from the very beginning," many applauded sincerely. There were a lot of actors who owed them both a lot in the Hall. "Of course, my almost sister Scarlett Jones," she hugged my waist and laughed, "who has accompanied me during the whole of my professional journey. My beautiful, supporting mother, Lucia Malfoy," the crowd clapped politely, "and the wonderful step father she brought from Canada, Mr. Francis Cranford and my brothers Matthew and Marcus, who have had to endure every performance," the audience laughed, and so did my step brother Matthew. My six-year-old half brother Marcus was looking at me with shiny, big eyes full of admiration. "My grandmother, Alcmene Malfoy, who I just saw wiping a tear from her cheek, now _don't deny it,_" I half-joked, holding my own. "I worked very, very hard for that tear."

"I could never stop mentioning my late cousin Draco, without whom I would not be on this Earth. My aunts Aricia and Narcissa, my uncle Lucius, too. My friends and in-laws, Ron and Hermione especially," I smiled at them and they smiled back from their place- Hermione rubbing her big, round pregnant belly.

"And of course, my wonderful husband, Harry Potter," the audience cheered loudly, and I couldn't continue for several moments, "without whom I dare say _many_ of us wouldn't be here," the crowd laughed nervously. "And there's one last little person."

"I'm afraid you won't see me on the stages next season." There was a sudden silence. I smiled as I saw the journalists getting their cameras ready, expectant. "Little Draco will arrive in six months," I confessed, caressing the slight bump hiding beneath my silver silk dress. The flashes exploded on my face and the crowd cheered once more, louder than ever, as I tried to say thank you once more but my words were hardly heard.

I came down from the stage and my husband embraced me happily. I held my award tightly against my chest and struggled not to cry. But even after all we had been through, it wasn't difficult. I was the Best Female Actress of the year and my life had always been my own personal stage.

* * *

Oh, that's it! That's the end! Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you to those who stuck with me. I really really hope you liked the story enough to leave a nice review telling me you did.

I've been thinking about my next project- I've got a couple of ideas, but if you have any request, I'd love to read them! Maybe a Black family story? How would you feel about that? Have you got any suggestions, things to improve, anything at all that you think I should know before starting to write my next? Tell me! And I promise I'll put something new up soon.

Anyway, have fantastic holidays whatever you celebrate and an incredible 2010!


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